Weekly Green: October 21, 2013

Hello and good afternoon all. Environmental headlines of the past week include:

• California adopts first-in-nation energy storage plan;
• Little oversight for offshore fracking;
• Climate change to cause "massive" ocean damage by 2100;
• Outdoor air pollution a leading cause of cancer;
• And more.

» Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Green, a no-frills news roundup provided free of charge by the California League of Conservation Voters. If you're not a regular subscriber, sign up today! Get your free subscription here: http://ecovote.org/wg

California

California adopts first-in-nation energy storage plan
In a bold move being closely watched by utilities, environmentalists and the clean technology industry, California on Thursday adopted the nation's first energy storage mandate. The state's three investor-owned utilities must collectively buy 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by the end of 2020.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24331470/california-adopts-first-nation-energy-storage-plan

New $25 billion plan confronts Delta water issues
Overlooking the Banks Pumping Plant, where 11 giant pumps lift water 244 feet up a hill to the mouth of the California Aqueduct, water resources supervisor Jim Odom lamented a miscalculation last winter that resulted in 800,000 acre-feet of water never making it up that hill.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/oct/19/new-25-billion-plan-confronts-delta-water-issues/

Whatever happened to the Hydrogen Highway?
Remember the Hydrogen Highway? It was front-page news less than a decade ago, and the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento was ground zero for what was touted as a forward-looking effort to green the Golden State.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/20/5833131/whatever-happened-to-the-hydrogen.html

Will Fracking Suck California Dry?
New technologies have expanded oil production, but they're adding another thirsty mouth to the state's tight water market.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/new-energy-paradigm/will-fracking-suck-california-dry-20131020

Little oversight for offshore fracking
In waters off Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach -- some of the region's most popular surfing strands and tourist attractions -- oil companies have used fracking at least 203 times at six sites in the past two decades, according to interviews and drilling records obtained by the Associated Press through a public records request.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Little-oversight-for-offshore-fracking-4910169.php

California finds more instances of offshore fracking
The oil production technique known as fracking is more widespread and frequently used in the offshore platforms and man-made islands near some of California's most populous and famous coastal communities than state officials believed.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking-4909395.php

GOP to California Governor: Don’t Spoil Fracking Potential
House Republicans hailing from California, led by Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, are sending a preemptive warning to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to ensure that a law he signed last month doesn't get in the way of the Golden State's potential to revive its oil industry.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/gop-to-california-governor-don-t-spoil-fracking-potential-20131017

Work begins on Calif. bullet train, locals angry
Rail is meant to help this place, with construction jobs now and improved access to economic opportunity once the job is complete. But the region that could benefit most from the project is also where opposition to it has grown most fierce.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/20/5836699/opposition-rises-as-calif-high.html

Walters: California bullet train a big test of integrity
Gov. Jerry Brown demonstrated this year that he’s willing to skate very close to the hazy line that separates devotion to duty from political obstreperousness, giving rise to uncertainty about Brown’s reaction to a Superior Court judge’s finding that his bullet-train project violates the ballot measure that authorized state bonds for its construction.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/17/5830825/dan-walters-california-bullet.html

Analysis: Jerry Brown emerges from bill signings with a strong political hand
He'll focus on the nitty-gritty work of implementing policies he has already signed into law and will keep pushing for a state bullet train, he said. The governor wants lawmakers to finish renegotiating a water bond measure, currently scheduled for the November 2014 ballot, to boost the reliability and safety of the state's water supply. He is simultaneously promoting a separate plan to build two massive tunnels to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the southern half of the state.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/19/5834741/analysis-jerry-brown-emerges-from.html

Legislators seek to soften sting of bee die-off
California legislators want to stop the sudden death of billions of bees, which are crucial to the success of the state's $44-billion agricultural industry.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20131021,0,1083115.story

Scientists fight to save condors from lead bullets
The California condor fluttered up to a perch directly in front of the scientists, turned his fleshy pink head toward the reflective window inside its pen and glared with bloodshot eyes into the observation hut.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Lead-bullets-in-their-diet-poisoning-rare-condors-4911979.php

Rim fire puts a dent in High Sierra wildlife habitat
The blaze that burned through mountain forests has altered the home of some of California's rarest animals, including the great gray owl and the Pacific fisher.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-wildlife-20131021,0,6176231.story

Inside the New Tunnel 100 Feet Below San Francisco Bay
In 2002, San Francisco passed a ballot measure to seismically retrofit the water system. And in 2010, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission started construction on a tunnel under the Bay that’s intended to be able to deliver our drinking water, rain or shine or earthquake.
http://blogs.kqed.org/science/2013/10/17/inside-the-new-tunnel-100-feet-below-san-francisco-bay/

Richmond slashes permit fee for solar panel installations
The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to slash permit prices for residential solar panel installations from $615 to $100, a move city leaders said was an effort to jump-start solar investments in local neighborhoods.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/west-county-times/ci_24319146/richmond-slashes-permit-fee-solar-panel-installations

So Much For Jobs? Startup Builds Solar Robot Workers
The firm claims its solar-worker robots will be able to reduce both installation and maintenance costs for utility-scale solar facilities. That isn't just by eliminating the need for union-scale paychecks, but also by accelerating the pace of construction so that companies can start selling power sooner.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/so-much-for-jobs-startup-builds-solar-robot-workers.html

South Los Angeles residents fuming over oil field
They confront the South Coast Air Quality Management District at a town hall, criticizing inconclusive information on whether air levels are toxic.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-fumes-20131017,0,1909360.story

National and International

World Health Organization: Outdoor air pollution a leading cause of cancer
“The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances,” said Kurt Straif of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). “We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths.” The IARC said a panel of top experts had found “sufficient evidence” that exposure to outdoor air pollution caused lung cancer and raised the risk of bladder cancer.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/17/world-health-organization-outdoor-air-pollution-a-leading-cause-of-cancer/

Climate change to cause "massive" ocean damage by 2100
By the year 2100, about 98 percent of the oceans will be affected by acidification, warming temperatures, low oxygen, or lack of biological productivity, and most areas will be hit by a multitude of these stressors, finds a new study of the impacts of climate change on the world’s ocean systems.
http://ens-newswire.com/2013/10/18/climate-change-to-cause-massive-ocean-damage-by-2100/

Extreme weather can be the 'most important cause of poverty'
Up to 325 million people will be living in countries highly exposed to natural hazards by 2030. If aid is not used to reduce these risks, the progress made in fighting poverty could disappear. The report examines the relationship between disasters and poverty over the next 20 years, using population projections, climate models and estimations of how governments can cope with extreme events.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24538078

How to Feed the World Without Wrecking the Planet
The pitfall of our modern food system, Elton writes, is that it prioritizes maximizing output—while ignoring the ecology that healthy crops and livestock depend on.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/10/consumed-food-finite-planet

Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to E.P.A. Rules on Gas Emissions
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a major case challenging Environmental Protection Agency regulations of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources like power plants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/politics/supreme-court-to-hear-challenge-to-epa-emissions-rules.html

Fracking hurts US climate change credibility, say scientists
Huge growth in fracking for shale gas is undermining America's credibility at international climate change talks, say climate scientists.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/11/fracking-us-climate-credibility-shale-gas

Tesoro detected anomalies on North Dakota line before spill
Tesoro Logistics LP detected anomalies during an inspection of its 20-year-old North Dakota pipeline just days before the line ruptured and spilled 20,600 barrels of oil onto farmland, the company said on Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/17/us-tesoro-spill-northdakota-idUSBRE99G11Q20131017

Can we trust anything we’re hearing about North Dakota’s oil spill?
The Associated Press isn’t exactly suggesting that North Dakota’s recent oil spill was in fact even bigger than what’s being reported, but it is questioning whether the current estimate -- 20,600 barrels, or about 865,000 gallons -- is accurate.
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/16/can_we_trust_anything_were_hearing_about_north_dakotas_oil_spill/

Moving shale oil across melting tundra: huge and potentially risky business
Even if the oil safely navigates the rail line and the tank farm, a spill in the frigid Hudson Bay would be almost impossible to clean up with the equipment on hand. "You're in an Arctic environment, so there are a lot of inherent dangers. If something goes wrong, there's not a lot you can do about it."
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059988878

Cruise lines can do more to reduce environmental footprint, new report says
Cruise ships dumped more than 1 billion gallons of sewage in the ocean, much of it raw or poorly treated, according to analysis of federal data.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-cruise-ship-report-card-2013-20131017,0,5780884.story

BP oil spill: Ex-Halliburton manager pleads guilty to destroying evidence
Anthony Badalamenti faces a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after his guilty plea in US district court.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/15/bp-oil-spill-halliburton-manager-guilty-destroying-evidence

Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists
Across North America -- in places as far-flung as Montana and British Columbia, New Hampshire and Minnesota -- moose populations are in steep decline. And no one is sure why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html

» Thanks for reading the Weekly Green from the California League of Conservation Voters. If you're not a regular subscriber, don't forget to sign up today! Get your free subscription here: http://ecovote.org/wg
 

• Next Weekly Green
•  
• Previous Weekly Green